Danny Williams had The Championships in mind when promising filly Pumpkin Pie maintained her perfect record at Nowra on Tuesday.
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The Goulburn-based trainer was on-track to watch his daughter of Star Witness record an emphatic two length victory against the older horses in the St Georges Basin Country Club Class 2 Handicap (1200m).
It was hard not to be impressed by the display which was Pumpkin Pie’s second victory from two career starts.
Williams was delighted with the performance.
“I think she is a very promising filly,” he told Sky Thoroughbred Central.
“We will probably look at stepping her up to a Sydney [Highway Handicap] race now – a 67 Benchmark and we will just go from there.
“I will most probably give her one more run before turning her out and wait for The Championships.”
The $400,000 Country Championships final over 1400m would be an ideal target for Pumpkin Pie.
The series has eight qualifying races worth $150,000 around the state and a massive prize pool on offer in the final.
All eight heats take place over the 1400m which Williams believes would be an ideal distance range for his three-year-old.
“I thought she would be a good 1400m or 1500m horse and as I said, she surprised me with the speed she showed,” he said.
“She did an amazing job.
“We ran almost half a second quicker than the class three [over the 1000m on the same day as her first win] and I think you’ll find the form of the race was good.”
Pumpkin Pie, a $3.40 TAB fixed odds favourite, settled back in the field but had no trouble rounding up her rivals. Jockey Brendan Ward was able to weave a passage on the promising filly before edging clear to win by a widening margin.
Joseph Ible trained Major Sharpe ($10) battled on well for second while Mark Gee’s Balycastle Pegasus ($6) was third.
On his first time aboard Pumpkin Pie in racing conditions, Ward was impressed.
“She gave me a nice feel,” Ward said.
“Obviously stepping up to 1200m definitely suited her on top of the ground today.
“She is only a lightly framed horse.
“Even though we were in behind them in cover, the wind knocked us around a fair bit.
“But she is a nice progressive horse.”
It was a tough day for South Coast trainers at the Archer Racecourse. Moruya trainer Steven Cummings was the only coastal trainer to have some joy when Grey Drama took out the Kinghorn Motor Group Benchmark 64 Handicap (1200m).
